The 10 Canadian Cities with the Worst Winters

Yellowknife has a long snow cover season, with only June and July being completely free of powder. The month with the highest snowfall is November, with 36.5 cm on average. Yellowknife also sees some of the coldest weather for Canadian cities. January is the coldest month, with average lows of –29.5 °C and highs of –21.6 °C. The wind chill is brutal and has been known to drop below –60 °C. At least it’s one of the best places to see the Northern Lights.

Shovelling starts early in Thompson, with October seeing an average snowfall of 21.4 cm. This is to prepare you for November, when the average snowfall is 35.4 cm. The coldest month is January, when temperatures drop to an average of –29.3 °C and soar to average highs of –18.3 °C.

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Winnipeg is one of the best places to visit in August but you don’t want to be here in winter. In January, the average snowfall is 23.7 cm and temperatures drop to an average of –21.4 °C. The average highs for January are –11.3 °C. Then there’s the wind chill, which can drop to below –40 °C.

Do you like shovelling snow? Then you’ll love Iqaluit, where only July is completely free of snow. The heaviest snowfall is in April, with an average of 31.5 cm. January is the coldest month, with temperatures dropping to an average of –30.9 °C, while average highs are –22.8 °C. The wind chill can easily drop to below –60 °C, so you really don’t want to be outside. Not that you’d want to go out anyway: in the depth of winter, Iqaluit sees a whole four hours of daylight.

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Charming St. John’s makes for one of the best Canadian trips for solo travellers. Just be sure you come in summer. In winter, this city has some truly miserable weather. While temperatures only drop to around –8 °C in January and February, the average snowfall for January is 88.7 cm. The weather can turn from snow to heavy, freezing rain and back to snow all in the same storm. To make matters worse, there are strong winds with a wind chill reaching –40 °C.

In winter, you might want to head south to warmer climes rather than stay in Regina. January is the coldest month, with average lows of –20.1 °C and average highs of –9.3 °C, while December has the heaviest snowfall with an average of 19.5 cm. Regina also sees an average of 11 days where temperatures drop below –30 °C, so be sure to invest in stylish and warm winter coats.

Moncton is another city for shovelling enthusiasts. Between December and March, snowfall is typically over half a metre, with an average of 67.4 cm in January. Temperatures are relatively mild, ranging from average lows of –13.1 °C to average highs of –3.2 °C in January, the coldest month. Moncton sees generally sunny days in winter but nor’easters can bring freezing rain to give you a break from the snow. The sea ice that forms in the Gulf of St. Lawrence also causes cold winds that extend well into spring.

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Saguenay is one of the best places to visit in July, with stunning campsites and lots of whales in the fjord. Winter is a different story, though. Between November and February, the average snowfall is more than half a metre, with December seeing 76.6 cm of snow on average. January is the coldest month, with average temperatures ranging between lows of –21.1 °C and highs of –10.1 °C. Not too bad, you might think, until you realize that there are on average only 15 days in all of winter where it gets warm enough for the snow to melt.

Halifax experiences relatively mild winter temperatures, ranging from average lows of –8.2 °C to average highs of –0.1 °C in January, the coldest month. January also sees the heaviest snowfall at an average of 43.1 cm. What makes this city a miserable place to be in winter is that when it’s not snowing, it’s raining heavily, so the ground is a mess of snow and slush.

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Toronto winters are positively balmy compared to many other Canadian cities, with January, the coldest month, seeing average lows of –6.7 °C and average highs of –0.7 °C. January also sees the heaviest snowfall, with an average of 37.2 cm. What makes this one of the worst Canadian cities in winter isn’t the weather as much as it’s Torontonians’ uncanny ability to forget how to drive when there’s snow and ice on the roads. Add traffic congestion and it’s easy to see why a study claims that Toronto has the worst commute in North America. The situation doesn’t stay on the ground either: the slightest hint of wind and snow causes flight delays and cancellations, making Toronto home to one of the worst airport experiences you can have in the world.